Happy Mother's Day

I'd like to wish all my girlfriends, my mom, my mother-in-law, and my daughter and daughter-in-law a Happy Mother's Day.   Julie invited me to spend part of the weekend with her in Orlando and this is what we did...

She and 3 of her friends ran in a sprint triathlon at Fort Wilderness at Disney World.   We stayed in one of the rustic cabins at the Fort and all I had to do was show up.   They had planned and prepared everything down to the last detail.   We hung out at the fantastic theme pool at the Lodge, then Julie made us an awesome dinner (thanks for sharing the recipe, Jules) so the girls could have a carb load the night before the race.   The girls had already "racked" their bikes and all their necessary gear at the race site before I got there, so they were prepared for the race.

They were anxiously laying out their clothes, planning their morning meal, and organizing everything necessary for the big event so they could get out of the cabin in just a few minutes after the alarm went off in the morning.   I think I may have been more excited than the girls because I woke up almost every hour or two all night long!   We went to bed by 9:30 and woke up at 5:30am, they ate and we clambered into the chilly car to head over to the race site.   I had to drop them off and return the car to the cabin, then take one of the park's buses to the venue as there is no parking there.

By the time I got there twilight was giving way to a beautiful morning and I started snapping pics of the girls as they waited (a little jittery) for their turn to hit the water at the lake.   Eileen was in one of the first waves of women to enter the water and she was off like a shot to begin the 1/2 mile swim.    Julie, Wendy and Sara were in the mixed class and were called up to the water's edge about 18 minutes later.   Ok, I don't think I could swim across my pool 10 times and they were swimming a half mile!   Yikes!   I'm glad there were spotters in kayaks and boats along the course....that made me feel a little better about watching them take off splashing into the chilly water.

As soon as they emerged from the water, they all dashed to the transition area where they had parked their bikes last night and I watched as they moved as fast as possible to get into gear to ride the 12 mile bike course.  Then, they reparked their bikes and ran a 5K.   Whew, I'm beat just from watching them.   But what an exciting event to watch!

The girls all finished and I have yet to find out Julie's official time, but she felt she beat her time from last year's race.   Eileen, on the other hand, finished first in her class and 15th overall!   Woo-hoo!   You go girl!!  Congratulations to all four of you.....I'm really impressed with your bravery overcoming your concerns about swimming "with the fishes", and can only begin to appreciate the many hours and hours of training that it took for you to participate in today's event.  

Here are the girls after the race proudly wearing their medals....from left to right, Sara, Eileen, Julie and Wendy.  What a great way to spend Mother's Day, thanks for sharing it with me,
Love,
Debbie